It wasn’t quite the colour of medal they were hoping for at the U14 County Clippers’ first ever Clippers Spring Classic A-Level season-ending tournament. Nevertheless, the Clips managed to claim a bronze medal, dole out a measure of revenge, and set themselves up for this weekend’s Ontario Cup playoffs in St. Catherines. 

“We worked hard all weekend and our relentless defence, ball movement, good communication, and a whole lot of grit and grace really brought this team together,” Sam Boardley said. “We are really starting to pull together in advance of our championships in Niagara at the end of the month.”

After an opening game setback, the squad showed great resilience and the hosts gave the hometown fans something to cheer about. Clutch shooting by Jessica Davis and Madelyn Minns down the stretch helped vanquish the Gloucester Cumberland Basketball Association Wolverines 32-28.

The skipper pointed to the scoring prowess of Hartley Wallach and Remy Dullard-Krizay, who are creative in crafting scoring opportunities. In the back court, Joon Taylor, Ms. Minns and Aylie Heffernan approach defence with a method best called smothering. Sisters Joni and Alia Vader successfully create open shots for one another. And Ms. Davis, Audrina 

Carty and Camilla Parsons ensure every missed shot and loose ball is a hard fight right to the very end.

Good pace

Remembering their opening loss to GCBA, the Clippers came out firing in the bronze medal match and were leading 13-3 at the end of the first quarter. The Wolverines would cut that lead to one by the end of the third. In the final period, Ms. Minns drove home a three ball that put the hosts up six with under two minutes to play. A pair of Clippers turnovers helped GCBA hang around and the visitors were within a bucket inside the final minute.

With the medal on the line, Ms. Davis hit twice from the charity stripe late to seal the championship.

Ms. Wallach led the way with 10 while Ms. Minns had second and Alia Vader hit for six points and led the club in rebounding.

Unsurprisingly, she was selected as the club’s MVP for the tournament.

“Alia is an increasingly central and consistent figure for this team. She’s strong, she’s athletic, she’s tenacious on the boards, and with each game, her shot continues to improve,” said Coach Boardley. “Her quiet confidence and lead-by-example style makes her a reliable go-to player, as well as a role model for her teammates.”

Wind in their sails

After dropping the opener 25-22 to GCBA Friday night, the Clips rebounded Saturday morning against the Huntsville Hurricanes, limiting the opposition to just eight buckets in a 25-16 win. Ms. Taylor led the way with six points.

On Saturday afternoon, the Clippers gave an all out effort in one of their best offensive outputs of the season, busting the South Muskoka Breakers 50-18. It was the first game all season in which every single Clipper scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound. Ms. Wallach led with nine points, followed by Ms. Dullard-Krizay with eight points. On Sunday morning, the Clippers couldn’t quite keep up the pace against the eventual champions, the Nepean Blue Devils. They fell behind by as many as a dozen points in the first half. 

The plucky Clippers chipped away though, getting the deficit down to three in the second. But the County squad just couldn’t get the shots to go down the stretch. The Blue Devils pulled out a 41-28 win. Ms. Minns led the scoring with seven points, followed by Ms. Dullard-Krizay and Joni Vader with four apiece.